MSR Outfitter Wing on Ebay - misleading ad?

I was wondering if it’s just me or if this ad is a bit tricky and means to misrepresent a bit. It seems that all that’s for sale is an MSR Outfitter Wing, but the majority of the photos show a Moss Outfitter Wing Net. It’s ‘in the fine print’ that the Net is not included. The title of the ad includes the words Rare and Moss and seems to be for the Wing and Net until reading the fine print. I could be wrong, do newer MSR Outfitter Wings sell for over $400?? Does this seem like a deceptive ad to you?

The word deceptive is a loaded term, and construes the seller intentionally is misrepresenting their offer. I do not think this is the case.

I think it is a reasonable ad; the text clarifying what is being sold is underlined to drive home this point. And it is the only text underlined. If someone is mislead, it is because they are not bothering to read the text at all. Would I have chosen a different pic showing only the wing? Yes, but I do not think there is a purposeful intend to mislead anyone.

I Just checked out the ebay lisiting and The only thing I find misrepresented is at the top where is says "Item condition: Condition: New other (see details): A new, unused item with absolutely no signs of wear. The item may be missing the original packaging, or in the original packaging but not sealed. The item may be a factory second or a new, unused item with defects. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections."

It then states that the item has been used once. Once an item has been used is cannot be listed as new (even if it is like new). This could just be a mistake on his part. When listing many items at once. Its easy to pick a wrong catagory in the condition section. I've done this before and had to go back and update it.

As far as "Moss" being listed in the header a lot of people list similar products at the end of there listing even though Ebay does discourages this and dont' forget that moss was intergrated into MSR as well.

I've had to use old pictures that have other things in the picture if I can't take a current picture. As he did discribe the picture and give a disclamer I would say he's not trying to misrepersent the item.

Thanks for giving your opinions, I suppose that I could have found a better word than misleading. I know that some older US made camping equipment ends up being sold to overseas buyers, so I see room for confusion/misunderstanding on the part of potential buyers. As an international traveler married to an international, I hope that this doesn't happen. Over $400 for a very recently made Wing that originally retailed for $295 sets up some red flags for me. I have an MSR Outfitterwing and I think it's a fantastic product, but not for $400 or more.

Not to long ago there was a Gander Mountain Dragonfly for sale on Ebay. I looked at the pictures. Was I suprised to see my pictures of the Blaze Solo. The discription was indeed for the Dragonfly. I notified the seller that those were the wrong pictures. But the two tents do look alike. He said those were as close as he could find on the internet. I let it pass.

Hikerbiker, you are correct that this wing was manufactured recently, but apparently is no longer being produced. Since it's no longer available for sale, it's on the road to being considered "rare". I offer the example of 2 MSR Velo tents which recently sold on eBay for $818. and $872; considerably more than the Velo sold for new. A seller(eBay ID: M-O-S-S) had a Moss Outfitterwing listed for $899. It didn't sell, but I've seen many Moss Vistawings, Heptawings, and even Tentwings sell for upwards of $750. Go figure...

It is amazing how the tarps/batwing type shelters attain collector status so soon after they are out of production. I guess it could be they don't have very long production runs as well as there being a small number of collectors located in Japan that are willing to pay top $ (not to mention all the collectors here in the US). They esp. love moss tents (camping stoves as well) but are into all the vintage american camping gear. The guy who had the MSR for sale also had a Dana Design Garuda Hat Tarp that went for $527 (I bid on that one myself, though lost). There were two or three ?'s from people in Japan. He also had a Walrus tarp trekker with damage that went for $120.

chenry, it all comes down to your personal perspective on the gear; there are those who might think that $316 is a lot to spend on an Optimus 22B when you can buy a new 2 burner Coleman white gas stove LINK for $34.88.

Think about the prices Optimus 199's have been commanding recently... up to $737 for a single burner stove.

Exactly! I'm in your corner, and agree that you have a great perspective. Your appreciation of the 22B, 199, and 50 year old Coleman 2 burner isn't predicated on their being collectible "fluff", but rather that they work, and work extremely well at that! If you factor in the incredible design of the aforementioned stoves, the Himalayan 47, and Moss(or MSR) wings, there will be those of us who seek out and collect(Revere the Gear!) these icons whether or not anyone else considers them valuable or collectible. What I intended to convey regarding perspective is: those who don't share our disease(stove, tent, etc, fever) only see an old tent or an old stove, that isn't worth what was paid for it.

Hi Alan, I'm in the same boat as you, hoping to find an Optimus 22 at: thrift store, yard sale, craigslist, landfill, trailspace classifieds... An interesting side note on the $737 199: the "lucky" bidder(robert3483) won another 199 the next day(2-15-2011) for a measly $500. Regarding the collectibility of the MSR Velo, I became aware that Velo auction prices were on the rise 18 months ago, when one sold for $500+; until then, they had been in the $100-$250 range. As they don't show up on eBay very often, I'll have to wait to see if this "trend" continues. This might be an good opportunity to see what someone is willing to pay for my Walrus Velo, which is larger than its' MSR counterpart.